Blackbaud, which specialized in CRM solutions for non-profits, today announced several additions to its cultural management solution, Altru, a cloud-based solution that supports general-admission arts and cultural organizations' business needs while providing them a complete view of their operations.

Arts and cultural organizations, both large and small, use Altru for a variety of member engagement needs, including fundraising, ticketing, event management, and marketing.

"We're very excited by the growth of Altru as a comprehensive solution for arts and cultural organizations of all sizes," said Jay Odell, Blackbaud's vice president and general manager of Altru, in a statement. "These organizations have unique needs that Altru is designed to specifically address, from managing special events to fundraising to keeping their visitors and members informed. In today's competitive landscape, efficiency and a complete view of an organization's operations is key to success."

New Altru features include the following:

Mobile check-in for special events: In addition to mobile check-in for pre-registered programs, Altru now offers the ability to use mobile check-in for special events through the Altru mobile app.

Refund enhancements: Organizations can partially or fully refund items that were discounted at the time of sale. The Refund page now shows the discount, price, and checkboxes to issue refunds.

Ticket exchanges: Altru enables organizations to change the date or time of a patron's ticket for upcoming programs. With the new Reschedule functionality, users can choose from upcoming events, view price differences, and update large groups with a single click.

Major gift fundraising: Now includes major gift/prospecting functionality to better manage key prospects and large donations.

Front desk notifications: Alert ticket sellers when they interact with certain patrons at the front desk, such as board members or major donors, so they can greet them accordingly.

Online order confirmations: Create custom acknowledgement email based on the type of order to appropriately thank patrons for donations or give additional details about tickets, memberships. or event registrations made online.